Cloud benefits in the health industry

Imagine reading your electronic health record on your smartphone, or better yet consulting a doctor’s opinion live from your tablet! These services are possible  by utilizing cloud computing applications, which will change the nature of the competition between health care companies. To this end, like in any other field, CEOs of the health industry understand the paramount importance of cloud in their business.

I believe, as Ken Terry underlines in its article “Cloud computing in healthcare: the question is not if, but when”… so, will companies fully rely on cloud-based solutions?

According to a Markets & Markets research, globally 32% of the health-care facilities are already using cloud applications and close to 75% of the organizations – which are not using any cloud applications – are considering adopting the same in the next three to five years.

The benefits of cloud in the health industry are a very large topic, especially if we discuss about the patients benefits, which can be endless. Cloud technologies can improve and upgrade health-care services it’s a representative example of the cloud paradigm shift.

Streamline costs, device and location independency, and proficient information management are all general cloud-applied benefits that I have discussed already in other posts. Relating them to the health industry, we can summarize a safer, faster, and more efficient health-care system. We can talk about cloud-based billing and consumer-oriented management applications, which provide a better access to health-care and data, especially in remote and emerging areas.

The possibility of expanding the use of electronic health records and exchanging information across and between providers are also significant benefits. Many regions in the US and other developed countries are establishing cloud health information exchanges, where information can be easily shared between hospitals, health systems, physicians, and clinics. Bottom line, as Markets & Markets research also shows, cloud computing increases business agility.

Although data privacy, security and safety policies are still the recurring barriers for embracing cloud computing, I picture the cloud health industry to become a system which will globally connect information and facts into a shared easy-to-access world.

More compelling information on this subject can be found in Accenture’s “Six questions every health industry executive should ask about cloud computing”, which briefly highlights what health industry executives need to assess in adopting cloud computing for their organizations.

Photo source: https://www.sxc.hu/photo/971651.